Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Gooseberry Tart with Condensed Milk Topping

When browsing the Estonian food blog roll this Monday, I spotted a raspberry and blackcurrant tart that had been topped with the simplest 'custard topping' ever - a can of sweetened condensed milk. As we had also picked a batch of mixed gooseberries when visiting K's mum (that was after we got back with our forest and bog bounty of cloudberries, bog bilberries and assorted wild mushrooms ), I was keen to try out the idea with gooseberries. Condensed milk on its own is utterly sweet, I gathered it would go well with slightly tart gooseberries. And it did - plus we quite liked the creamy texture of the topping.

Place butter, flour, potato starch and salt into the food processor and process into fine crumbs. Add egg, process shortly until all ingredients are wet. Take the dough out of the food processor, press into a dough ball and flatten slightly. Wrap in a clingfilm and place to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.Roll the dough into a circle on a slightly floured surface and line a buttered 24 cm tart tin with it. Pre-bake (preferably blind-bake) at 200 C/400 F for about 15 minutes.Meanwhile, top and tail the gooseberries (or is it 'tip and tail'?). Scatter on top of the tart base. Drizzle condensed milk on top, making sure that majority of berries are covered.Bake for another 20 minutes or so, until the gooseberries are soft and tart lovely golden brown on edges.Cool before serving.

* Replacing some of the flour with potato starch makes a crispier tart crust. If unavaiable, just take 150 g all-purpose flour instead.** For an eggless crust, use 2-3 Tbsp cold water.